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Contents:
What's new at SCUBA Travel?
Ocean Art Underwater Photography Winners 2016 Announced
Diving news from around the World
    
 Scuba Cuba Great place to see sharks - a fifth of the world's species are here. Plus the coral reefs, sea grass beds and mangroves in Cuba are amongst the most intact marine ecosystems in the region.
Learn More… | | |  Beneath Croatia's Sea Thinking about some Mediterranean diving - take a look at Croatia. She has 66 inhabited islands and much of the best diving is off these.
Learn More… | | |  Djibouti for Whale Sharks Djibouti is in Africa, at the bottom of the Red Sea. I spent a week there waiting for a liveaboard once. The coral is in excellent condition but the highlight is the whale sharks.
Learn More… | | |
Ocean Art Underwater Photography Winners 2016 Announced Matty Smith has won Ocean Art’s best-in-show 2016 for his dazzling Pacific Man of War image titled Blue Lasso. 
Blue Lasso by Matty Smith
Revealing some of the most awe-inspiring photos captured underwater around the world, the annual competition attracts entries from both professional and amateur photographers. Macro Marvels There were 16 categories in which photographers could enter. The winner of the macro category was Dennis Corpuz with his Amazing Squid capture taken in Anilao in the Philippines. 
Amazing Squid by Dennis Corpuz
Divers will appreciate how difficult it is to take this photo of a fan worm – which shoots back into its tube at the slightest movement. This shot by Lorenzo Terraneo was a runner-up in the macro category. 
Dancer Sea Worm by Lorenzo Terraneo
To qualify as a macro photo the subject in the photo should be lifesize or greater. Macro subjects are generally 6 inches across or smaller and shot with a lens focal length greater than 35mm. Not only in the Ocean Although the competition is titled Ocean Art, it isn’t just marine photos that can be entered. Fresh water underwater photos are also eligible. The winner in this year’s Cold Water category was this magnificent shot of a pike in a Swedish lake. 
World of a Pike by Tobias Dahlin
The photographer, Tobias Dahlin took the photo in Skallinge lake, in Sweden. Pike are normally quite shy so Dahlin had to be extremely patient, waiting until one came close. He took the shot without flash to avoid scaring the fish. Stars in the Sea This beautiful shot won first place in the Reefscape category. It was taken by Jeong Sang Keun in Lembeh, Indonesia. The camera was set for a macro wide shot, which gave the unusual composition. 
Sun Star by Jeong Sang Keun
Miniscule Creatures For those photographers wanting even smaller than macro, there is supermacro. This is when the subject in the photo is larger than life. Such as in this capture of a Pearl Granular Crab. This tiny creature measures not more than 7 mm. His portrait was taken by George Low, again in Anilao, Philippines. 
Pearl Granular Crab by George Low
Everybody’s Favourite – the Nudibranch Yes, one family of animals has its very own category: the Nudibranch. These most photogenic of creatures attracted many entries, but the winner was Rafael Cosme. 
Mating Nudibranchs by Rafael Cosme Daza
What is it? Is the question that immediately springs to mind on viewing this unusual aspect of a Common Sea Squirt by Lawrence Alex Wu. Taken with a point-and-shoot compact camera, this 2cm forest-like structure was shot in, yet again, Anilao, Philippines. 
by by Lawrence Alex Wu
Where is the best place to take a winning Underwater Photograph? Some locations cropped up several times in the winners. Lembeh strait (Indonesia) had three photos featured but the most popular place was, as you might have guessed from reading the above, Anilao in the Philippines with 8 winners, runners up and honourable mentions. 
by Marco Gargiulo
You can see all the winning photos at the Underwater Photography Guide site. The judges were Martin Edge, Tony Wu, Marty Snyderman and Scott Gietler.
Our round up of the more interesting underwater news stories of the past month. For breaking news see our Twitter page or RSS feed
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